The memo to bloggers from senior editor Willow Bay confirms what LA Observed previously reported about a December launch for the Huffington Post's Los Angeles vertical and the role of L.A. editor Billy Silverman. In addition, Bay invites the HuffPost's hundreds of unpaid bloggers to contribute L.A. items.

From the beaches to the desert, we want to create a running conversation on everything from entertainment news to trends in food, art, health and fashion. React to the biggest stories in city and state government, share upcoming cultural events or activism opportunities. Or make some news of your own. Drawing from a city as vast and diverse as Los Angeles, we hope to build a forum that allows our bloggers to share their unique LA experience, and talk about what matters in their neighborhoods....

As always, there are no deadlines or quotas. Your posts can be short or long. Its a great way to impact the local conversation.

We're also pleased to announce that Billy Silverman is joining our west coast office as editor of our Los Angeles page. Working closely with our blog team in New York, Billy
and I will be at the helm of all things Los Angeles.

Fishbowl LA has the whole memo. The HuffPost already has vertical sections for New York, Chicago and Denver.